Outlet control and agitator for bins



- 1952 w. J. KILPATRICK 2,611,513

OUTLET CONTROL AND AGITATOR FOR ms Filed July 29, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR.

WlLLlAM J.KILPATRICK BY ATTORNEY v Sept. 23, 1952 w. J. KILPATRICK 2,611,513

' OUTLET CONTROL AND AGITATOR FOR BINS Filed July 29, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM J. Kl L'PATRIGK ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 23, 1952 OUTLET CONTROL AND AGITATOR FOR BINS William J Kilpatrick, Detroit, Mich. Application July 29, 1950, Serial No; 176,663

cammed to 'clear the outlet.

Another object is to minimize requisite closure travel by providing a pair ofclosures meeting medially of the bin outlet'to close th'elatter, such closures being interconnected by' a spring biasing them toward their non-flow position and being jointly actuable by a cam to -shift'them apart and clear of the outlet.

- Another object is to control the bin outlet by a pair of closures as above described; and equip each closure with a pair of pivotal supporting arms and'to coaxially pivot the arms on a com monshaft; A I

Another object is to dispose said arms "and cams for actuating thesamein' an exterior'relation to the bin so that they will not interfere with :a flow of material, norsuffer interference from such flow.

Another object is to providea simple and novel means for fixing a cam on a shaft in operative relation to an arm pivoted for deflection by the cam.

Another object is to extend v a rock shaft through a bin above an outlet at the bin bottom, to mountan agitator on the shaft within the bin, and to'adapt the shaft to actuate a closure for the outlet,-pivoted exteriorly' ofthe bin. --:'I'hese and-various other objects are "attained by the construction hereinafter-described and illustrated wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a bin equipped with my improved flow control means.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the same, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a front end view of the bin and control means.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail on line 5-5 of Fig. 2 of a means for locking a cam on its shaft.

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the parts appearing in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an agitator for in the accompanying. drawings,

. installation in the bin.

In these views, the reference character i designates a rectangular bin having an elongated bottom outlet 2. The bin has opposed sidewalls 3 converging downwardly-to form lateral margins of the outlet, and opposedwalls similarly converging toward the outlet ends. The bin isso fitted between front and rear parallel-walls 5 and 6 of a canister asto form a pyramidal chambers! at front and rear of the bin Underlying and controlling the outlet '2 isa pair of elongated closures 8, laterally abutting each other medially of the outlet, in their nowfiow position. Each such closure is-carried at its ends by a pair of upwardly extendingfront and rear arms 9 and 9a occupyingthe chambers- 1, the front arms having lapped upper ends-, and'the same being true of the rear arms. Said upper ends are'pivoted on a shaft l0 carried by the bin medially'between its walls 3, such shaft having endportions occupying the chambers land adjoining the walls 5 and 6, the latter thus preventing material longitudinal play of the shaft. f

Spaced downwardly from the shaft I0 is. a cam shaft I l extending through the bin-"and chambers I and journaled in the walls 5 (and 6, andben tforwardly of the wal15 to form an operating crank l2. Fixed-on the shaft I l in each chamber 1 is a cam 13 having a' pair of fingers M at opposite sides of such shaft and parallel therewith, such fingers beingrespective- 1y above andbelow the shaft when the arms 9 and 9a occupy their normal vertical position. To-accommodate said fingers and also the shaft I I between adjoi-ned'armsflthe latter are similarly formed with arcuate recesses l5 in their inner edges, asbe'st appears. in Fig. 4; Each cam l3 with its finger I4 is preferably a sheet metal stamping, and preferably the-fingers aretransversely curved topresent convex'faces to the arms, minimizing friction. Coiled springs IS interconnecting corresponding ends of the closures 8 tend to maintain an abutting relation of the closures, in which relation they are jointly restrained from any material lateral play by flanges l1 upstanding from the relatively remote lateral margins of the closures and straddling the outlet portion of the bin. Said flanges also reduce the likelihood of any material escaping over the relatively remote margins of the closures, rather than between the latter, during opening or closing of the closures.

The cams l3 are fixed on their shaft H in a quite simple but secure manner. Thus each cam is formed with a slot I8 of keyhole form, whereof the circular end is proportioned to slidingly accommodate the shaft and the reduced end may straddle the parallel bottoms of two kerfs l9 oppositely formed in the shaft. Thus the cam may be slid along the shaft until it registers with said kerfs and may then be slid transversely of the shaft to enter the margins of the reduced end of the slot I8 in the kerfs and so requiring the cam to rotate in unison with the shaft. A sheet metal clip 20 is correlated with each cam to prevent-such shifting of the latter as would afford registration of the circular end of theslot IS with the shaft. The clip has a slot 24 of a length to accommodate both fingers f4 and of. a

width to receive the shaft. When said clip embraces the two fingers, as in Fig. 5, the cam is locked from shifting lengthwise of its slot 18. The cams I3 are in such proximity to the walls 5 and 6 as to prevent material longitudinalshifting of the cam shaft. The arms Sand 9a are sufficiently close to the walls 4 of the binto prevent shifting of such arms lengthwise of either shaft. The clips 29 are-retained by said arms in engagement with the fingers l4.

Fixed on the shaft ll within the bin is an agitator 22 for loosening the contents of the bin concurrently with lateral swinging of the closures.

The preferred agitator isformed of sheet metal wapertured and bentto form three bars22a, 22b,

and 22c parallel to the cam shaft, the bar 22a being just abovethe outlet 2 and the other two bars beingabove, and at opposite sides of said.

shaft. The illustrated means for securing the agitator to the shaft comprises two wires 23 welded tosupporting arms for the bar 22a and set into transverse openings "1. In. an outlet-control for bins, the.. combination with-a bin having'an-elongated bottom out- :let, ofan elongated closure for the outlet disposed beneath the bin, a pair of supporting arms respectively secured to the respective closure ends and. upwardly, extending from such ends in an exterior relation to the. bin, means coaxially pivoting the upper ends of said arms, to afford lateral swinging of the closure for positioning said closure alternativelyrbelow or laterally of the outlet, a spring urging the closure toward its position below the outlet and means subjecting the closure to such spring, .a shaft extending through the bin, a pair of cams fixed on the shaft and efiective on .the arms through'rotation of the shaft to swing the closure to one side of the outlet, and an actuating element on one end of said shaft.

2. An outlet control for bins as set forth in claim 1, and said means coaxially pivoting the arms being a shaft extending through the bin.

3. In an outlet control for bins, as set forth in claim 1, a pair of walls between which the bin'is disposed, such wallsbeingtransverse to said shaft and chambers being formed between said walls and the bin, and the upper ends of said arms being coaxially pivoted within such chambers.

4. In an outlet'control for bins as set forth in claim 1, and an agitator carried by said shaft within the bin.

5. In an outlet control for bins, the combination with a bin having an elongated bottom outlet, of. a pair of elongated closures for the outlet disposed beneath the bin and having edges mutually abutting substantially, medially of theout- ,let, a pair of arms supporting each closure.- and upwardly extendin from its ends in a straddling relation to the bin, means coaxially pivotingthe adapted to slidinglyreceive the shaft-and its reduced end being. adapted to straddle the bottoms of thekerfs andthereby resistrotationof the cam on the shaft,the cam having a pairof camming fingers in similar parallelism with; and at opposite sides of the shaft, and a clip having a slot receivingthe shaft and also receiving said fingers and thereby preventing shiftingoft-the cam transversely of the shaft in a directio to release it from said kerfs.

WILLIAM J;. KILPATR11 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record the file of this patent:

uru'rsn STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,069,739 Fildes 1 Feb. 9,1937 2,246,354 Garlinghouse June 17, 1941 2,501,743 Schellentrager Mar. 28, I950 

